Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Review!
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the next installment of J. K. Rowling's expansive world of Harry Potter, this time taking place in America's 1920s. It focuses on meek protagonist Newt Scamander, who wrote a famous textbook that students of Hogwarts would recognize, journey to New York City and stumble upon a situation that lets loose a few of his magical beasts that he protects inside his magical trunk. I will say that I'm surprised how mixed this film has been with fans, but for me I came out loving it.
One of the reasons this film struck a cord with me is because it brought back that sense of wonder to the Harry Potter universe, a sense of wonder that I haven't felt since maybe the fourth movie. After Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the franchise focused more on the Harry vs Voldemort storyline, and used what was wondrous from the previous films in that plot line as tools for the characters. Because the characters were older and used what was once wondrous in their daily lives it made the later films feel less magical, at least for me. Now, decades before the boy who lived is even born Rowling pens a script that brought wonder and magic back into my theater experience, one that I didn't think I'd get to experience again.
Part of this exciting experience for me was seeing all the creative ways magic had on a wizard's life, and just seeing the daily life of a wizard was a delight. With this being set in another country it allowed the audience to see how a similar culture would be widely different, for example how Newt and British wizards interact and respect muggles vs the MACUSA's take on No-Maj. For some fans these familiar concepts, yet foreign situations, may be a turn off because they are used differently than they have come to know, but for me I loved watching how different the MACUSA worked and found that most of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them excelled when broadening the Harry Potter world rather than focusing on one remarkable character.
In fact, this beginning to this franchise is radically different when handling their characters when compared to the Harry Potter films, but that should be expected. In Harry Potter, the audience followed the titular character and got to know him and his friends through his eyes. That attachment to character isn't strongly utilized in Fantastic Beasts, and some may even say that Newt isn't much of a character, but when looking at the film I took from it as Newt being an average, yet awkward, wizard that is really here to show the audience the expansive world. Through him we have witnessed new creatures, got an understanding of the basic turmoil in the wizarding world, explored the difference in culture between two countries with wizards, and ultimately explored the darker side of magic that widards try to forget. For me, Fantastic Beasts if an ensemble set that is supposed to take the viewer on a journey through a corner of the wizarding world rather than follow any one wizard's character.
Because of this the character development is spread thin, since Fantastic Beasts does try to give every character enough screen time, but I will say that Rowling was able to write each character well enough while sharing the screen with everyone so that everyone does, more or less, have an arc they went through by the end of the film. Unlike other blockbusters this year I can name every character and tell you how they changed through the film. I found this very enjoyable, and exciting as these characters had enough going on for them to get me attached enough to care about what happens to a few of them by the time everyone has to say goodbye.
Another reason I believe that Newt is going to be the character to show the world than be the character to change the world is because with everyone's character development, and so much time for us to get attached to these characters, you're not entirely sure that they will return for the sequel. In fact, I feel like only two characters will be returning, one of them being Newt. Since Newt isn't a hero, nor a prolific wizard, and is characterized as a guy who doesn't want to get into trouble, but help the wizarding world in his own way, makes me believe that his touch on the wizarding world is entirely based on his textbook, and his adventures to safe keep these creatures would be the backdrop to the history of the wizarding world that is happening around him.
Overall, I felt that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is more of a world building story than a standard wizard against the world that we have all come to know through the character Harry Potter, and for that I loved this movie for taking me back to a time where wonder and magic thrived on screen. I found the characters to be deeper than they let on, but not too deep. They stayed for as long as they needed, and by the end you'll feel sad and satisfied with everybody's involvement. This film is a fun romp through the wizarding world that hints and sets up a bigger story for the future of this franchise, but as its own movie I'd say this is a great standalone film for fans of Harry Potter to experience the wizarding world without any angst or big plot threads, and is arguably a refreshing story in blockbuster films that are littered with superheroes and world ending plot lines.
B+
